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Michael A MassettiExecutive Partner, Supply Chain

March 29, 2016

Bias in the Workplace: Men Just Don’t Understand Women

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Some initial thoughts …

• Outside of training for harassment and business conduct, men and women are never trained on working in a diverse and inclusive environment

• Leaders are coached on how to spot wrong-doing, but lack facilitation skills for inclusion in teams and groups that have gender, racial, ethnic, etc. members

• Without a backstop for managers and employees to rely on, biases and prejudices infiltrate the workplace … not necessarily with malice

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NY Times Digest – It’s still happening!

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The rise of women in leadership … 1980s style

• Women in high technology in the 1970s and 1980s were quite few in number.

• Even fewer were female senior leaders and executives.

• How many of us recall the overt bias directed at those who tried to climb the ladder?- “She dresses like a man.”- “She acts just like a man.”- “How come they always select women that behave like men?”- Even women said these about other women!

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Bias in the immigration line …

• I read a “guide to getting through immigration quickly” years ago

• Guess what they suggested?

• “Avoid women … they are rules-based and you’ll never get through easily!”

• Really???

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Why are certain words mostly used to describe women?

No-one ever called me a “bitch!”

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A story of bias in talent development

Setup:• It’s no secret that historically there are more men than

women in high technology industries. • Our leadership team was 90% male and the high-

potential talent under review was 80% male.• The purpose: discuss, support, challenge, and align on

the highest potential leaders in the organization.• The day started out well. Since we were going through

the people by job level, the initial wave of talent was well known by the group.

• Then it happened …

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The story of bias in talent development

• Once … “She’s too aggressive.”- Everyone, please take note.

• Twice … “She’s a bit too aggressive.”- Two for two … both times directed at a female.

• Three times (you’re out!) … “She’s aggressive!”

• The silence in the room was deafening.

• Despite two earlier occurrences, we could not help ourselves.

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Did we learn?• 50 people. 10 women. • 3 instances of “aggressive.” All about women. • All by men.

• Leaders need to listen closely to the subtle words used to describe people in the organization.

• In this case, a gender overtone crept into the conversation and was so blatant it was embarrassing for everyone.

• One of the 3 female leaders eventually went on to be a Director!

• These biased descriptors, especially when used in isolation to a specific type of person or group of people, should not be part of the lexicon of any talent management or development activity.

• Most importantly: Do we have the cultural wherewithal to call this out when it occurs?

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Final Thoughts

• Managing diversity to create a benefit for the team or organization is hard – data suggest teams benefit with gender diversity by 15%. (McKinsey)

• We must train everyone to detect situations of bias or prejudice, but that is not enough.

• We must create awareness of bias and inclusion across our employees and leaders

• We must train everyone – leaders and individuals – to learn how to create an inclusive environment free of bias.

• Enable the discussion so people can break through fears and lack of knowledge on how to embrace differences and create synergy.

• Don’t fear constructive/healthy conflict – just discourage bias.

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Resources• The Inclusive Leader (KornFerry)

• http://www.tolerance.org/activity/test-yourself-hidden-bias (Bias self-assessment)

• http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/Outsmarting-our-brains/$FILE/EY-RBC-Overcoming-hidden-biaises-to-harness-diversity.pdf (E&Y/RBC article)

• http://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/25/technology/exposing-hidden-biases-at-google-to-improve-diversity.html (Google story)

• http://fortune.com/2015/01/15/how-corporate-america-is-tackling-unconscious-bias/ (Intel story)

• http://michiganross.umich.edu/rtia-articles/gender-gap-work-reflects-boss-political-views (University of Michigan research article)